It has been one year and four days since X.Org 7.3 was released and a number of months since X.Org 7.4 was supposed to be released, but today X.Org 7.4 is scheduled to finally make it out the door! This release is shipping quite late and with a slimmed down set of features, but in this article we have more details on what this release holds in store for the Linux desktop community and why it may be a short-lived release.

Yes, but the pejorative tinting of amateur is what comes to most peoples' minds when its used to describe one's work.

To me, I have to hear more to make a judgement. If someone says, "this is a great application from a local amateur developer" means to me that this guy is able to make a great piece of software regardless of the fact that he won't make any money off it. To me, an amateur who makes a high quality piece of software will receive more 'wow' from me than a paid developer who makes an application of similar quality. Maybe I'm just a romantic who cheers for the underdog.

I understand what you mean - some people make the leap to the conclusion that anything that isn't done by 'paid' experts is obviously of questionable quality (even if all evidence demonstrates to the contrary).